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CSS Newsletter | Nov. 2021

15.11.2021 | You recieve this mail because you subscribed to the newsletter of Critical Scientists Switzerland.

Dear Visitor 

Please find the latest news of our network Critical Scientists Switzerland in this newsletter. We organise an international conference together with the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) and l'Association des amis de la génération Thunberg about the riddles of cause and effect in biology – a timely and contested topic in the era of climate change, the 6th mass extinction, corona, and the industry's push to genetic and geoengineering technofixes.

Furthermore, the legislation on new gene editing technologies has been an issue in the EU and Switzerland as well as for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this year. We contributed two public statements and two reports to the debate which counter the flawed conclusions that might be drawn from the industry PR and its scientific endorsement related to gene editing.

Warm regards, the executive secretaries,

Tamara Lebrecht & Ephraim Pörtner

1. WHAT CAUSES WHAT IN LIFE? Explaining today's major challenges

A public conference about the riddles of cause and effect in Bern and online

The COVID crisis, endocrine disrupting substances, genetically engineered organisms, climate change, etc.: all major challenges of today demand our understanding. Science does its best to oblige – yet is often criticised about its attempts. The understanding of 'causes' is at the core of scientific investigations and of public policy. It underlies all current efforts to face the big ecosystemic challenges. But upon closer inspection, it exposes widely different views of what causes what.

Eight scientists will share their views with the audience in the two-day public conference "Context, Causality and Consequences - From robust evidence to timely in biology, ecology, law, and public policy". One of the speakers is Denis Noble, author of "Dance to the tune of life: Biological relativity" and other books revolutionising our view of organisms and genomes. Much time is allotted to questions and discussion with the audience.

Organised by the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, Critical Scientists Switzerland, Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences & Association des amis de la génération Thunberg

When? Friday 26. November 8:30 – 18:00 &  Saturday 27. November 2021, 9:00 – 18:00

Where? ONLINE

2. Stellungnahme zur Revision des Gentechgesetzes  / Prise de position sur la révision de la loi sur le génie génétique

Öffentlicher Brief / Lettre publique

Sehr geehrte Parlamentarier*innen des National- und Ständerats

Gerne machen wir Sie als Verein kritischer Wissenschaftler*innen aus der ganzen Schweiz auf unsere Position bezüglich der aktuellen Revision des Gentechnikgesetzes und dem regulatorischen Umgang mit neuen Verfahren der Genomeditierung mit CRISPR-Cas und ähnlichen Tools aufmerksam:

Die Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS) begrüssen die Verlängerung des Anbaumoratoriums. Organismen, die mit neuen Gentechnikverfahren produziert wurden, müssen dem geltenden Gentechnikgesetz (GTG) unterstellt werden und entsprechend den dort geltenden Vorgaben (Vorsorgeprinzip, Risikobewertung, Step-by-Step-Verfahren, Kennzeichnung, Monitoring) reguliert werden.

Chers parlementaires du Conseil national et du Conseil des Etats

En tant qu'association de scientifiques critiques de toute la Suisse, nous avons le plaisir d'attirer votre attention sur notre position concernant la révision actuelle de la Loi sur le génie génétique (LGG) et le traitement réglementaire des nouvelles techniques d'édition du génome utilisant CRISPR-Cas et des outils similaires :

Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS) se félicite de la prolongation du moratoire sur les cultures commerciales d’OGM. Les organismes produits à l'aide de nouvelles techniques de génie génétique doivent être soumis à la LGG en vigueur et réglementés conformément aux exigences qui y sont énoncées (principe de précaution, évaluation des risques, procédures par étapes, étiquetage, surveillance).

3. A Distortion of Science and a Danger to Public and Environmental Safety

Public Statement and Report

Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS) and the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) have published a scientific critique in response to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) demanding in recent statements that the EU stops regulating 'genome-edited' plants.

Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS) and the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) have analysed two statements by the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) in which both called on the EU Commission to end the regulation of so-called ‘genome-edited’ organisms and also older transgenic genetically modified organisms (GMOs). ENSSER and CSS found both statements to be seriously lacking in scientific objectivity and rigour. The literature quoted by Leopoldina and EASAC was selected to support their preconceived conclusion. We list more than 200 relevant scientific publications which suggest another conclusion. 'Genome editing', just as much as the older transgenic techniques, demonstrably poses risks to the environment and human health. Moreover, the relative ease of use and low cost of CRISPR, the best-known and most widely used 'genome editing' tool, gives rise to a considerably higher potential for dual use, abuse and accidental misuse. The application of 'genome editing' as gene drives (which are intended to permanently modify, replace or eradicate whole populations or species in the wild) is an additional cause for great concern.

4. Genetically engineered gene drives. IUCN report on synthetic biology lacks balance

Report

Should conservationists genetically engineer wild species and entire ecosystems in order to mend the consequences of human activity or to adapt the natural world to human needs? And if yes, what would be the acceptable risks and consequences of such interventions? The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Assessment Report “Genetic Frontiers for Conservation: An Assessment of Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation” is supposed to provide a basis for decision-making on this issue. Unfortunately, we find that it does not provide a sufficient basis for such decision-making. In our report “Genetically Engineered Gene Drives: IUCN report on Synthetic Biology lacks balance”, published by the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER); Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS); and Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler (Federation of German Scientists, VDW/FGS), we detail our concerns that the IUCN report lacks balance, falls short on eight major points and that the tone of important sections is one of enthusiasm about the potential of genetic technologies, when an objective presentation and analysis would be more appropriate.

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